Secrets
by LaughOutLoud305
Summary: After what happened to her a month ago, Ali is ready to let go of her past and embrace her future. But Strauss decided that the team needed bonding time... in a camp with other agencies! But how are JJ and Reid supposed to hide their relationship when Strauss can watch every move? And how will Ali deal with a mean girl who will stop at nothing to bring her down? Sequel to Collide!
1. Chapter 1

Note: This is the sequel to Collide ( s/8866387/1/Collide), and I do not own Criminal Minds or any of their characters.

Ali held up a finger to her mouth to try and tell JJ and the team to be quiet as they all leaned over Morgan's desk to get a good look at the sleeping man. Ali held out a long white feather, and tickled his lip. He twitched in his sleep, before naturally scratching his face. Which would have been a brilliant idea except... well... Ali had put whipped cream on his hand, and it was now all over his face.

Emily took her iPhone and snapped a quick picture of Morgan sleeping over his desk with a whipped cream beard on his face and hand and drooling out of the corner of his mouth, with Ali standing above him giving them a cheesy thumbs up. "This is so going on Facebook," Emily said, grinning.

JJ turned to shush her friend, but it was too late. Morgan snapped his head up, and saw his whipped cream covered hand, and groaned. "Not again. Natalie!"

Ali ran up the stairs into Hotch's office. As she opened the door and shut it again, Hotch hung up the phone and said in a monotone voice, "Did you try to prank Morgan again? Natalie, we already knew that this was not a good idea. Don't sink to his level."

Ali was simply silent, and her mouth started to twitch into a smile. She knew Hotch wasn't serious. They had bonded for the last month, as he had been the leader of the case involving the serial killer who was after her... her father. David Madison. But many people knew him simply as the Director of the FBI. Well, actually, ex-director.

A few years ago, her life was very different. She had gone by the name Alison Campbell, and was an A-list celebrity. But she had secrets, like any teenager. Like her father wasn't her real father, and he had always abused her and her baby sister Grace. Or how she had been chronically depressed until a suicide attempt two weeks ago had made her realize what she truly loved about life. She had started to go by a new name, as part of her new life. Special Agent Natalie Montgomery, FBI. Her family had become her team, and that was all Ali really wanted.

"Ali?"

Ali jumped as she realized Hotch was speaking to her. "Yeah? Sorry, I kind of zoned out."

Hotch smiled. "It's fine. Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to go back down. It looks slightly safer now."

"Ok." Ali said.

She walked down the stairs, and saw JJ speaking to Morgan. She could only catch a few words, but they sounded important. "But try and make a peace treaty for a few days. Strauss has something she wants to announce tomorrow, and I think you may like it."

Ali walked up to them, annoyingly cheerful. "Hola, amigos. So I heard you say something about a surprise...?"

Under his breath, Morgan muttered, "Don't forget about the truce."

Ali smiled and nodded at him, but kept looking eagerly towards JJ. Ali loved surprises. Well, getting them. But not waiting for them.

"Strauss can tell you tomorrow. She wants to tell everyone at the same time," JJ said, reasonably.

Ali tried to give JJ the puppy dog eyes, and said, "Please?".

"Sorry Natalie, that may work on Hotch, but that became significantly less cute after I watched you pass your firearm exam by blowing out the brain on the poster."

Ali fake cursed under her breath, but smiled at her friends. "Fine. But Emily might hate you for it."

And with that, Ali turned around and walked to her desk, leaving JJ and Morgan to wonder why Emily would hate them for it.

* * *

The next day, Ali and Emily were the first ones at the office. Emily tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes and said, "Natalie, why did I agree to this?"

Ali batted her eyelashes and said, "Because you love me?" Emily grumbled something in reply, and Ali grinned. She was wide awake. Strauss' surprise had kept her up all night, and she was ready to know what it was. As well, the three cups of caffeinated coffee might have had something to do with it. Ali was firmly against coffee unless it was needed, and she felt this morning it was very much needed.

The next to walk in was Hotch. He had been over for the majority of the previous night, eating dinner with both Emily and Ali and playing board games with them until Ali had wisely decided to go to bed early, although she had heard them for the rest of the night. Wisely deciding not to tease them until after they had talked to Strauss, Ali made a mental note to never forget this. After all, opportunities like this didn't fall into your lap everyday, did they?

After Hotch came JJ and Reid, albeit separately so as not to arouse suspicion from Strauss. Finally, Morgan and Garcia strolled in with Strauss and Rossi following them. Looking at the couples, Ali wondered if there was something going on between Rossi and Strauss. It would make sense, as they were both around the same age and worked together and... Ali shook herself out of her fantasy. That would make everything so much easier, but people did not just date because everyone else did. Especially in a workplace where dating was forbidden.

Finally, Strauss started to speak. "Hello, Agents." All of the agents mumbled some excuse of a greeting to her, and she sighed, knowing that was as good as it would get. "As you know, I have been in touch with several other agencies, and we decided that we need to re stress the values of teamwork and agency cooperation. So, we've decided to assign each team to a corresponding team in different agencies, and we will have a friendly competition to strengthen team bonds."

Ali leaned forward excitedly. "So we get to show them that we're the best?"

Strauss shook her head. "Not quite. To stress the teamwork aspect, we've decided to turn it into a weeklong bonding activity, and the FBI training camp in New York is hosting it. After your work on a few of the cases up there, they were hoping if you would participate. Originally, I declined, but after... recent events, I decided that maybe a little bit of bonding time could be what this team needs."

Ali looked at each of her teammates in growing horror. "Oh no. We are not doing this. I'm... ummm... I'm suicidal! I need to see a shrink like... often?" She directed the last question to JJ, but Emily answered for her. "At least once a day, starting soon. The equivalent of a psych hospital care."

Strauss smiled like that of an executioner at the block. "As it turns out, they have a live in counselor with the proper credentials there, and the doctor thinks that this would be excellent for you to live in a way similar to a halfway house for a week and evaluate you. But they want to talk with you a rather lot. I told them that was okay."

Ali wanted to glare at her, but she knew that would get her nowhere. She had tried it before, but the Dragon Lady was not easy to argue with. Humbly, she bowed her head, and said, "How often?" Strauss smiled once more, and Ali thought that some day, if they could ever become friends, then she would tell Strauss to stop trying so hard. It just looked weird. But until then, it was very entertaining for her to watch.

"Twice a day for a week. And I will be staying on the grounds and getting reports of your progress."

Ali gritted her teeth and said, "As you wish. When do we leave?"

"Since we're hosting, we will leave later today and fly to New York."

Under her breath, Ali muttered, "Great."

* * *

"Come on Ali! It will be fun. Haven't you ever been to summer camp?" Emily exclaimed from the drivers side of the car.

Ali frowned. "No, as I was busy doing valuable things with my life. This is stupid."

"Why?"

"Because we will learn nothing, try (and fail) to get to know other agencies, and keep our secrets under Strauss' nose. Think that will work out well?"

Emily pulled into the airstrip that they were meeting the team at, and stopped the car. Turning to face Ali, she said, "If we manage to survive this week, then I promise we'll tell her the truth somehow. But only if you behave. Deal?"

Ali nodded. "Deal. But - " Emily raised an eyebrow at her, but Ali continued to speak. "But, we better beat those CIA jerks in whatever contest Strauss was talking about. After all, we can't have them mistakenly believing that they're the best, can we?" She smiled at Emily, and Emily nodded.

"Yeah, but we better hurry or we won't even be able to get there!"

They got out of the car and grabbed their bags from the back. Running, they caught up to the plane right after JJ. Her and Reid had come separately, because Strauss was flying out with them.

They boarded, and realized that they were the last ones to get on. The captain yelled something intelligible, and the engines flipped on with a rumble. Ali settled back as they took off. They always sat for the first 10 minutes, both for safety reasons and for Rossi ( because although he would never admit it, the whole team had seen him turn green and run to the bathroom on numerous occasions.) Needless to say, his issue with his stomach was the worst kept secret since... well... ever.

Ali shut her eyes for a few minutes, knowing that she would wake up when they landed much more well rested and sharp. After all, she and Morgan did have a war they needed to finish, and Ali would need to be on the top of her game to defeat him and show the other agencies who was the best.

**A/N So what did you think?**


	2. Chapter 2

Two days later, the team had dusted, swept, washed, set up, and mapped out every centimeter of camp. Even Garcia had work to do with setting up the computer monitors to make sure nothing got out of hand (which was a good idea, seeing as the last time they had tried something similar to this had ended up with a misunderstanding that involved pie, guns, and a lawsuit).

Ali finally stretched out onto her bunk one day, just glad to be done. It had been decided that each of them were in a different cabin, to "encourage team bonding and get out of your comfort zone!" (as Mandy, the "activities guide" had put it. The second she had turned her back, she was immediately dubbed Manic Mandy by Emily and Ali.) Ali had gotten the cabin of trainees. These were usually the youngest members on a team, and were fresh out of trainee school (hence the nickname trainees). JJ and Emily had gotten the two cabins of special agents or their equivelants, and Garcia was with the directors in the indoor dorms (meaning they didn't have to walk outside to get to the plumbing and the agents did.) Ali figured that the Supervisory Special Agents and higher were probably with Hotch and Rossi.

It was way too campy for Ali to be comfortable. She would have been a lot more comfortable with a one day workshop, and never seeing these people again in her life. But to live with them for a week!? At least she would be visiting the shrink every day, starting the next day. She might keep her from going crazy.

"Knock knock," Emily said, walking in, startling Ali out of her thoughts.

Ali smiled at her friend. "Hey. What's up?"

"Oh, not much. Morgan asked me to give this to you." Emily handed Ali and envelope.

Ali took it, and tested its weight in her hand. "Thanks, but I'm good. I don't need any love letters from him. Garcia might kill me if I do."

Emily smiled. "Cute, but it's not a love letter. I do believe that it is a taunt though. Look at your hands."

Ali looked down at where she had been holding the white letter. Her hands had turned a puke green from contact, and Ali knew immediately that it probably wouldn't come off easily. "Emily! I thought you were neutral!" Ali wailed over dramatically.

"I was. But I had to see that. Now let me know if you need help getting back at Morgan." Emily gave Ali a smile, before walking out, leaving Ali in her own mischievous thoughts.

* * *

"Hi! I'm Sarah Hillbridge, Secret Service." Ali shook hands with the cheerful girl, who she could never picture as being one of the serious people in dark suits she always saw when she went to the White House.

"I'm - " But Sarah cut her off excitedly.

"I know who you are! Of course I do. You're only on like the cover of every magazine like... ever. You're amazing, Alison! Although I did hear that you have a new name. What is it?" She was breathless at meeting the star, and Ali laughed nervously.

"Ummm... thanks. I go by Natalie now. Natalie Montgomery. I try not to think of the Alison side of me anymore."

She nodded, not getting anything Ali was saying. Ali chose that moment to simply walk away, not wanting to have to explain her life decisions to another person.

She had just walked away when another girl walked up to her in the narrow space outside of the cabin where everybody was meeting. She had long, dark hair and almond shaped brown eyes, and appeared to be one of the older girls there. Ali put her age at around 24 or 25, which was about the norm for the trainees. Her black jeans were obviously designer, and her jacket and wedge heels looked much more expensive than Ali's old American Eagle sweatshirt and scuffed boots.

"Hi." The voice was emotionless. Ali then knew that she was either CIA or ATF, as both of them were trained to not show any emotion unless needed. "I'm Blaire. Blaire Chan, CIA."

Ali nodded. "Hi. I'm Natalie Montgomery, FBI."

Blaire smiled at her quizzically, before speaking again. "Didn't Sarah just call you something else?"

"Ummm... Yeah. Alison. My name used to be Alison Campbell, but then... a lot of stuff happened, and I had to go into hiding for a while. Legally, my name got changed to Natalie Montgomery. Confuses the heck out of people, but whatever."

"Well, hi Natalie Montgomery. So when you say Alison Campbell, do you mean the star Alison Campbell? Or just a coincidence?"

Ali's cheeks flamed bright red. "One and the same. But that was then."

Blaire laughed. "Come on silly! You're an amazing actress, and like an A-list celeberity! How else do you think you could have gotten through the FBI training school? I mean, nobody in their right mind would hire a 20 year old ex-actress to be a FBI Agent!"

The change was so subtle, it took Ali a few second to realize what Blaire had said. "Hey! Excuse me, what right do you have to go and start trash talking me? Do you even know what I went through to become an Agent?" Ali decided that it would be best to leave out her real age. That would just add fuel to the fire.

Blaire kept on talking. "At least you were pretty at one point. But then you screwed up your coloring, and now no one will hire you! Is that why you became an FBI Agent? Because nobody would hire poor widdle Alison, and the FBI felt sorry for you?"

Ali shook her head at the older girls words. She could insult Ali all she wanted, but not the BAU. It was time for a comeback. "So did you get hired because of daddy's money? Or because no other agency would take you?"

Blaire shot Ali a dirty look, before stomping off, undoubtedly ruining her fancy wedge heels. Ali smirked. Served her right for wearing them to a place that was more like summer camp than anything else. Actually, is was remarkably like summer camp, Ali realized. You had the popular kids, the dorky but lovable kids, and the followers. Only age the kids by about 20 years, and it was such a similar situation that Ali was almost freaked out. Almost.

She turned around to walk back to her cabin, but something stopped her. She was silent for a second, looking to her side, before suddenly pivoting and kicking out with her leg. The person who had been walking behind her quietly - too quietly - doubled over as her foot made contact with his stomach.

She turned around. He was cute. Really cute, but in a natural way, not like he was trying too hard. He started to wheeze, and Ali could see that he meant no harm. She leaned down next to him, and helped him stand back up, before starting to babble. "I'm so sorry, I just wasn't sure who you were, and then it was sudden, and I had to do something, and I didn't mean to hurt you!"

He laughed. "No worries. Natalie, right? I heard you talking to Blaire. I'm Liam." He held out his hand, and Ali nodded, causing him to put it back down.

"Sorry. I'm just... a bit weird like that."

He smiled. "No worries. But, anyways, don't listen to anything that Blaire says. She's a jerk, and, sadly, most of the others follow her lead."

Ali was curious. "How do they all know each other? I mean, this is the first time I've ever heard of something like this since like 2005."

"They've all worked together. CIA, ATF, State Police, Homeland Security, Department of Defense... You guys don't really work with them that often."

Ali nodded, realizing what he was saying. Then her next question hit her. "Wait... How do you know this?"

He smiled. "I have my ways."

And then, mysteriously, he faded back into the forest, leaving Ali wondering who he was and what he was doing there.

* * *

"Hello? Can you hear me?" Manic Mandy shouted into the mic. A ripple of laughter ran through the crowd.

Soft enough that only the people in her immediate vicinity could hear her, Ali said sarcastically, "No way. I think the mic is broken." Several people turned to give her broad smiles. Ali could be screaming and shouting, and they wouldn't care. Unless they worked for the Secret Service, this was the closest they would ever get to someone even remotely close to famous without zipping them into a body bag or arresting them.

"Eh-hem. Welcome, Agents! I would like to welcome you to our first annual cooperation get together! Look around you. These are the people that you will be working with for the rest of your careers."

Ali looked around the room, her eyes landing on Blaire and her rapidly shrinking group of followers from all agencies. Almost all of them had flocked to Ali's table in the massive dining hall. They were the future of the US Executive branch. Great.

"Senior agents; you are supposed to train and recruit young agents. You keep everyone trained and in their best form. You are the reason these were started, and you are keeping them going. Stand up, please."

All of the agents over the age of 50, including Rossi, stood up to a thundering applause. Even Manic Mandy couldn't ruin the moment.

"Special agents, please stand." About two thirds of the dining hall stood up, including Morgan, JJ, Emily, Hotch, and Reid. Ali whistled and clapped for her friends with the rest of the hall. Manic Mandy tried to speak, with increasing difficulty over the increasing noise level. "You are responsible for helping all Agents with their responsibilities. Without you, we wouldn't be able to have enough influence in the world, and - EXCUSE ME!" She got increasing frustrated until she cracked. People started to listen to her, and her face started to lose a little of the purple color, so it was more of a lilac than a bright violet. "Thank you. As I was saying, you are the manpower, and we need you to keep working as well as we do."

The agents sat down, and Manic Mandy resumed with her overly peppy MC duties. "Finally, we have the trainees. Or the probationary agents. Or the young' uns. Whatever you would like to call them."

A gruff voice called out, "Irresponsible and rash!" The room erupted in laughter once more. Ali wasn't sure, but she was very confident that it had come from Rossi's corner of the room.

"You are our future. The main reason we do these things is to ensure that communication and good feelings continue with the new agents. Make your leaders proud." Manic Mandy stepped down, beet red. "Thank you."

Ali not-so-discreetly mimicked her as she walked away. "Andyou'reallthebestsonevereverforgetthatandwow! Caffeine!"

The group of girls around her laughed, and a few of the girls from Blaire's table hesitantly picked up their things and moved in to see what everyone was laughing at. Ali could feel Blaire's glare, but she didn't care. Let haters be haters. She didn't care.

**So what did you think? Sorry it took so long to get out, I've had swim practice twice a day for the last few weeks and been adjusting to the new schedule. **


	3. Chapter 3

Ali was hiding from JJ and Emily before her psychologist appointment. Figuring that the last place they would look for her was in the Arts and Crafts Cabin (she had stated many times how much she hates artwork and glitter), she had gone there. Okay, so maybe it wasn't an arts and crafts cabin EXACTLY. It was a "Creative learning workspace," complete with glue, glitter, and examples of the art created with the supplies given. Ali looked from the impressive painting she was trying to copy to her failed piece of artwork, and almost laughed out loud. She would never be an artist, that was for sure.

"Natalie?" One of the girls asked. Ali turned around and smiled sweetly at her. "Hi. Rebecca, right?"

She nodded, her eyes wide and innocent. "Yeah. I was... just... uhhh..."

Wanting to help the girl out, Ali said, "Do you want to sit down?" She nodded, and accepted the offered seat happily.

Ali leaned back over her art project, her long mass of coppery hair falling down her back. She could feel Rebecca watching her, but decided to let the older girl speak first. She was probably bursting with questions at this point. They all probably were. She took a sharp intake of breath. "So... what's it like working on a movie? Is it as glamorous as everyone says?"

Ali laughed genuinely. "It's tiring. I remembering waking up everyday at 4:00 to get to the set on time. I would eat a powerbar and brush my teeth before having to go with the driver straight to set, in my pajamas."

Rebecca's eyes were even wider than before. "Wow. That's so cool. Why didn't you go back to it? I mean, you had everything."

"It's complicated. My parents drove my career, and after what had happened, I didn't want to always work around the memories. It was too hard." That was the official cover story. Almost everybody had heard nothing about the director being replaced, and the few that did hadn't connected the dots to form the intricate tangle that was Ali's life these days.

Ali was startled out of her thoughts by a flash of long blonde hair outside of the window. Uh oh. "I have to go, but it was great meeting you," she said in a rush. "Thanks for everything!"

She ran out of the art room by the back exit, and watched the backs of two women walk into the Cabin. Ali knew that they were Emily and JJ. She swore quietly to herself.

There was a path behind her, and she ran down it lightly. She remembered it being about two miles long, and letting out at the cabins. Right now they had free time to "mingle with the other agents" in various activities. Also known as free period.

Ali ran, allowing her long legs to carry her down the trail and to her cabin. Sooner than she would have liked, she was running on pavement rather than a trail, and then she had to slow down at the entrance to her empty cabin.

She walked in. It was dark, which made sense since everyone was anywhere else. But she heard something. "Shit." Ali muttered to herself.

A light flickered on. "Hello, Natalie."

Ali squinted in the glare pointed at her, before seeing the outline of Morgan. "Derek. What, are all of you guys ganging up on me now?"

He smiled. "Well, you did throw all of my stuff into the lake last night. So, I thought I would help JJ out since she helped me wash all of it."

Guiltily, Ali gave him a small grin. "It was an accident?" she offered weakly.

Morgan threw back his head and laughed. "Nice try. But JJ and Emily will be here soon. You should have just gone when they asked you to."

"Well, they told me at breakfast, and I was tired and didn't really listen, and then we had to do that rope thing, and then I was hungry, and then I wanted to sleep, and I don't need to go to therapy! I'm not crazy, I don't want to kill anyone, and I am definitely not a danger to myself."

The door swung open, and JJ and Emily walked in, having heard Ali's short outburst. "Hello to you as well, Sparky."

Ali glared at Emily. "Haha. Seriously though, I don't need to go. Please? All we will do is talk about how amazing I am and how I need to experience life more and make friends."

"No." This time JJ spoke. "We are doing this by the book. We will be spotless, and nothing will be wrong. We will be the definition of a seamlessly perfect team."

Ali nodded skeptically. "Okay. Starting when we get back."

"No, Natalie, starting now."

Morgan walked up, and grabbed Ali, slinging her over his back once more. Ali sighed loudly as her world went upside down. "We have gone over this before. If you want me to move, please, just ask. I can walk."

JJ and Emily looked at each other, before nodding at Morgan to put Ali down. He let her off his back, and she straightened, trying to regain some dignity. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, Emily will escort you to the Doctor, and I will go try and 'mingle' with the others."

Ali rolled her eyes, but whether at Emily's escort or the fact JJ actually said mingle, even in a joke, they didn't know. Taking her silence as a sign of defeat, Emily said cheerfully, "Great! Let's go!"

Ali still didn't speak, but followed Emily out of the cabin.

When they were safely out of earshot, JJ said, "I think she's starting to grow up a little bit."

Morgan snorted. "Yeah right. By the way, since we're here and inside her cabin, can I leave a little surprise for her when she gets back?"

JJ almost rolled her eyes at the irony in that, but managed to stop herself. "I'm going to leave now. I will not look back, and if anything happens, I didn't know anything about it." She turned briskly and walked out the door, leaving Morgan to his plans.

* * *

Ali and Emily walked into the resident psychologists office. The hushed talking immediately became silent as the duo walked to the check in desk, manned by a volunteer cadet, and Ali said, "Natalie Montgomery."

He typed something in before gesturing to the office door. "She's expecting you."

Ali gave him a brilliant smile that seemed to light up the room. "Thank you."

He muttered, unable to string words together. Emily made a mental note to talk to Ali about the whole smile thing. She didn't seem to realize that most boys turned to mush when she glanced at them.

Emily sat down, pointedly waiting for Ali to make the first move to go into the office. Ali sighed loudly, and walked through the door. Then it closed on her.

Ali expected the room to be dark, with two chairs facing each other. That is what experience had taught her. But the room was light and open, with a comfortable looking couch and flowers at every corner, perfuming the room with a beautiful floral scent.

The figure in the chair in the back turned around. "Natalie?"

Ali nodded. "Yeah. Hi."

The woman turned around. "I'm Dr. Kennedy."

She held out her hand. Ali pulled down her sweatshirt so it covered her hands, and briefly grasped her hand in the faintest semblance of a handshake. "Nice to meet you."

Dr. Kennedy smiled wanly. She had only heard about Ali's aversion to strangers. They needed to get over that. "So, shall we get started? Why are you here?"

Ali sat down to the offered chair, knowing this would be a long and boring conversation. "A serial killer attacked and raped me multiple times over the course of three years, and then I shot him and learned he was my father. Not in that order. Why are you here?"

Dr. Kennedy frowned at her. "On request of Agent Erin Strauss, they wanted a female psychologist for you, so they brought in the reserves and gave Dr. Weller the time off. Would you like to discuss why they did that?"

"No, but I'm guessing that was a rhetorical question," Ali muttered. Louder, she said, "I have a severe distrust of people in general. I like a select few, but not many. The team. My sister. That's about it. But the male race has let me down many times, so I could see how Special Agent Strauss could come to that conclusion."

Dr. Kennedy smiled, thinking she had found an in. "You mentioned your sister. How is she?"

Ali laughed coldly. She was beginning to hate the psychologist more and more. "Read your case files. My sister is dead."

The doctor was taken aback. "I'm sorry. Would you like to talk about it?" She had not been prepared for that. She had only heard the common details, but had not yet had time to read the official report.

Ali shook her head and laughed sarcastically. "No. I am here solely because I want to get back to work, and I wasn't given enough time to come up with an excuse to get out of it." Ali looked pointedly at the clock. "It appears our time is up. See you tomorrow."

Ali stood up and quickly moved to the door, walking out of it and almost slamming it behind her. The doctor was left wondering two things; one, if Ali would even bother showing up for their session later that day (almost definitely not) and what she had said. She needed to read that file ASAP and figure out whether Natalie Montgomery was a danger to herself, and how to get through to the girl.

* * *

Ali stomped outside the psych clinic. Emily had left while she was inside, leaving Ali to walk back to her cabin in cranky silence. She started down the short path through the woods, but she sensed something behind her. Remembering how it had gone last time, she turned around quickly and put the stranger into a headlock rather than try and kick them. "Ooff!" Someone grunted.

Ali recognized the black hair and green eyes. "Liam?"

He smiled. "Hello again, Natalie. Care to walk and talk?"

Ali nodded. "Sure." They walked in comfortable silence, Ali getting her temper under control. Finally, she thought she could handle it. "So what's up?"

He smiled. "Your bed."

She looked at him strangely; he looked like he had been dying to say that. But then she looked in front of her. At her cabin, with her (and all of her cabin mates) bunks on top. They were crowded around the entrance, looking at what was obviously Morgan's handiwork. One of the girls - Sarah - said, "Look at this! They all left notes!"

Ali looked at her strangely, before walking into the cabin, Liam trailing behind her. Her jaw dropped. Sarah was right. They did leave notes. Each of the girls had one taped onto where their beds once were. Ali looked at hers.

_Dear Sparky,_

_I hope you liked our little surprise! Turns out we're not the only two who think this camp is a bit boring. The war is on._

_Love always,_

_Derek_

Peeking over her shoulder, Liam smiled. "So what will you do to him, Sparky?"

Ali gritted her teeth. She hated that nickname. "Revenge."

The other girls had gathered around Ali, the unofficial leader, and she now raised her voice. "Who wants to get back at them?"

All of the girls smiled mischievously. They had never been in a sorority house in college, but they imagined this was what it was like. "I have an idea!" Sarah said.

She briefly explained her idea to Ali, and Ali grinned. "Good idea, Sarah!"

Sarah smiled. "Thanks, Sparky." She had heard Liam's previous comment, and Ali, true to form, had turned a shade of crimson.

"I'll take point!" Ali said quickly. Everyone agreed with her, and they began to walk over to the boys dormitories for their next idea.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Ali and her group of cohorts had entered the boys cabin at the crack of dawn. Deciding to for the simplest pranks and jokes, they had snuck raw eggs, honey, whipped cream, and chocolate milk, among other things to surprise them. But Ali had an even better surprise in store.

They worked quickly but efficiently, giving each of the boys whipped cream hair and honey bras before taking a cabin picture. Then they decorated. Each of the boys got raw eggs set to fall on them come morning, as well as a pressure sensitive bucket of chocolate set to go off the next time someone opened the door to the bathroom. But Ali decided that wasn't enough.

She took all of Morgan's clothes, and hid most of them around the cabin. The other girls saw what she was doing, and copied her with their own mentor. Finally, she took the shorts and underwear she had left and gathered them in a pile with the girls. They carried them out, and snuck out to see what their prank would do. They didn't have to wait long, though.

The first to wake up was Morgan, as was made obvious by the lack of snoring. Then he started to move. Ali heard a "splat!" followed by a "NATALIE!"

She grinned, and one of the girls quietly gave her a high five. Morgan's bellows had woken up the whole cabin, who all went to talk to Morgan and figure out what was wrong. But as each of them moved, the girls heard a "splat" apparently, none of the boys being warned by their bunkmates reactions.

The girls all laughed, and, knowing that their next move would probably be to come out, ran outside to put the next part of their plan in motion. They were the first at the dining hall that morning, and, as Manic Mandy looked on in shock, they ran to the girls bathroom carrying all of the boys underwear.

They didn't have to wait long before the dining hall was filled up. They got ready in the bathroom, waiting for when the boys entered to make their entrance. Finally, they smelled a stench of rotten eggs and shaving cream, and knew the cabin had arrived - and that they had figured out what Ali had done to their shower.

Ali led the pack of girls outside, walking like they were on a catwalk. Mouths dropped at them. They were in their pajamas, but they had the boys underwear instead of bottoms on. Ali spoke for the group. "We just wanted to let our mentors know how much we value them and their help in teaching us the valuable lesson of teamwork. Thank you."

Morgan strode forward, and Ali tried not to laugh. He was blue - and not just a little blue, but bright blue. Looks like he was the first to get into the shower. "Natalie. Thank you so much for my underwear back. I needed it badly. Speaking of which, would you happen to know what happened to our cabin and our plumbing this morning?"

Ali grinned cheerfully. "Nope! No idea. Have fun cleaning it up though!"

And then, in one practiced motion, the girls tore the boxers off of their legs and threw them at the boys. Morgan caught his easily. Close enough that only Ali could hear, he leaned in and said, "Thank you, Natalie. You just gave me a brilliant idea. You girls suck at coming up with good ideas."

Ali smiled brightly. "No problem! Although, I would underestimate our resources. The lovely bit of plumbing was done by help from a boy."

As if on cue, Liam stepped forward. "Hey Al. You called for me?"

Ali slung her arm around him. "Why yes. Thank you, Liam."

But another shriek filled the hall as Emily stood up. Walking over to Liam, she said, "William?!"

Noticing that they were attracting a lot of attention, Liam said, "I vote we talk outside. Please?"

Emily nodded, and practically dragged Liam through the crowd, Ali and Morgan following in their wake. As soon as the doors to the dining hall had closed (leaving the rest of the girls to deal with Mandy), Emily turned on Liam. "Where have you been? How the hell did you manage to show up here?"

Liam chuckled, running a hand through his jet black hair. "Good to see you too, Em. I'm great, thanks for asking."

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!" Emily exploded. Ali watched in awe, partially finding it hilarious that Emily was yelling at someone else for once, and partially because the only one that has ever, in the history of the BAU, been able to piss off Emily Prentiss that badly was either Strauss or Ali herself.

"Ok. So, I guess I start with training? I got into the Police Academy, then decided to become an FBI Agent. So I went to training. And more training. And more training. But then my old knee thing flared up again, and I got desk duty. And that's where I've been for the last two months. What about you?"

Emily stiffened. "Stuff."

Ali sighed loudly, feeling like she could cut the tension with a butter knife. "Okay, I know you guys hate each other for some reason, but would you please explain why?"

Liam looked at Emily. "Do we tell her?"

Emily stared daggers at Liam. "No. I won't. I refuse to."

But Liam simply nodded, expecting this reaction. "Thanks, Emily. So I will do all of the dirty work again, like always."

"William, just... SHUT UP! I did more then you ever will realize."

Ali stepped forward once more. "What the hell?"

Emily sighed. "Natalie Montgomery, I would like to FORMALLY introduce you to William Prentiss Jr."

Ali and Morgan gasped. Ali was the first to speak. "You mean there's another one! Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit!" She stomped her foot, and Morgan smiled.

"Watch the language, Natalie."

Ali glared at him. "Not funny, Derek." She turned to Emily. "How come you never mentioned you had a brother?"

Liam answered for her. "Half brother. Our dad remarried after Em was born."

Ali started to smile. "Making you how old?"

"Twenty one. I only had to do two years of college. Luckily, Emily and I got our fathers intelligence."

Ali bit her lip, grinning, as Emily watched what was going on with some interest. Then she realized what was happening. She held up her hands. "Ummm... No. You two are not falling in love. Not now, and not like this. And not you two. William - " he cut her off.

"Liam. I've gone by Liam for the last five years."

Emily nodded. "Right. Liam. But stop looking at Natalie like that. Please."

Ali was getting annoyed. "Hello, Emily, still in the room. First of all, I make my decisions. Second, we are just friends. Thirdly, you are in no position to make demands. Liam and I are adults and we can make own decisions"

Emily tried not to laugh at that. "Ali, you are barely 18. You are not an adult."

Ali looked her in the eye. "I've gone through more than you have ever."

And Emily knew that was true. She remembered Ali, stripped to her underwear and beaten within an inch of her life, standing over the man who gave birth to her, holding the gun to his forehead. She saw Ali's flat stomach inhale, and then, as she exhale, shoot the bullet into his skull.

And then she knew that, as big as this was to her, this was nothing in the course of life. Who Ali dated was none of her business. Life was so much bigger than these petty issues. And Emily knew that there was no better match for both of them than each other.

And then Emily knew that she had to get them together. "Ali, Liam..." she began, but Ali cut her off.

"Just. Friends. It's possible, despite what you and JJ seem to think."

Liam looked slightly downcast at that, but straightened up before Ali could see. Nobody but his older sister would have even realized it. Emily smiled. "Fair enough." She would get them together, somehow.

* * *

Blair watched Ali and Emily interact with Liam. She read their body language easily. She knew that Ali liked Liam, and him her. She also knew that Emily and Hotchner, as well as Jennifer and Reid, were couples. And she knew this was against the BAU dating policy.

More than anything else, Blaire Chan was smart. She knew to wait, and let the opportunity come to her. Even though Ali and Liam technically wasn't against rules, Emily and Hotchner were, as were Jennifer and Reid. And by hurting her team, Blaire hurt Ali. And that made Blaire very happy.


	5. Chapter 5

A hour after she "officially" met Liam, Ali was back in the psychologists office again. Like before, Dr. Kennedy attempted to shake Ali's hand before she sat down. And, like before, Ali refused to actually touch her. But this time Dr. Kennedy was more prepared.

After Ali had sat down, the Doctor said, "So. Natalie. Why don't you touch people?" Ali gave her a stony glare. She was not a "forgive and forget" type of girl. Dr. Kennedy tried again. "Does this have anything to do with your father?" Ali's fists were now clenching and unclenching in her hands. "Natalie, if you don't answer my question then I have to call you incompetent of field work."

This got Ali's attention. Answering the question, she muttered, "Maybe."

"Natalie." Her tone was sharp, like she had done this before. "Look at me." Ali looked away. "Don't make me call security to drug you. Look at me."

And Ali did. She met Kennedy's gaze cooly, her piercing turquoise eyes no match for the cold icy blue ones. Bitterly, she said, "Is this what you wanted? Look. I'm sane. Believe me."

And Kennedy believed her. But she couldn't tell Ali that. She said, "We'll see about that. So, back to my question..."

She trailed off, allowing Ali to speak again. Ali sighed loudly once more. "I don't know when it started. When I was 14 I think? He... he..." Ali got choked up. She couldn't say the unspeakable. Kennedy stood up, and got her some water. She handed the paper cup to Ali. "Thanks." Ali said simply, knowing how close she had come to breaking in front of this woman. She wouldn't - couldn't - do that.

"Whatever you say stays here, between us," Dr. Kennedy said.

Ali doubted that, knowing that Kennedy was almost certainly on Strauss' payroll. "I don't want to talk about it."

But Kennedy had seen a crack in Ali's walls, and she was determined to break through the sultry teen. "Yes you do. What is it?" she probed.

"Nothing. Forget it."

"Speak. Alison, speak."

Ali stood up. "No. And don't call me that anymore. My name is Natalie."

Ali looked at the clock. She still had 15 minutes left. _Dammit _she thought. She couldn't afford to skip any more appointments.

She sat down in stony silence. Dr. Kennedy could see that the crack was healed, and that she had no chance of getting through. "Natalie, all I want to do is help you."

Ali looked at her. "How will you do that? You don't even know me."

"I know you better than you think. I've read all of your files, all of your psych evals, even watched a few of your movies. But I want to know you."

Watching the clock tick slowly away, Ali said, "Did you know that one in every four women are abused by adulthood? Think of it."

"Natalie, have you talked to anyone about what happened to you? When you were a kid, I mean."

Ali laughed sarcastically. "God no. I don't live in the past."

"But what about when you have to think about it? Do you just leave all of your emotions bottled up inside, until they burst out?"

"I don't know. I think about things. Things that help me control myself, and my life." Ali looked at the clock pointedly. "Now, it is time for me to go torture a colleague of mine, but I will see you this afternoon against my will."

Ali got up and walked out the door, as graceful as a ballerina, leaving Kennedy to ponder the newest set of things from Ali's past.

* * *

"This is awesome!" Ali exclaimed to Sarah as they split up into teams for paintball. It was the trainees against the special agents, and Ali was fairly confident that the winner would be whoever was better at ducking than actually shooting. It was supposed to be a training exercise, but seeing as Blaire was on their team they may just wind up killing each other.

Manic Mandy blew the whistle. "Okay, everyone, the rules are simple. Don't get shot. You can use all of the woods, and when you're shot, then go to the cabin in the middle to await further instructions. If you get lost or need assistance, fire a shot into the air." Or at least that's what Ali thought she said. In true Mandy style, she hadn't taken a breath between the first word and the last.

The shot rang out, symbolizing the beginning of the war. Ali and Sarah inched forward, determined to get their older counterparts out first. They were against Emily, JJ, Morgan, and Reid, although he probably was sitting this one out. Sarah had her older teammates Jane Alexander, Eric Martinez, and George Callahan. Ali had met all three on previous, and, although they were quite pleasant, they were very boring in Ali's opinion, much like Sarah. Ali had met many people like them. But they were much more pleasant to be around than Blaire, and Ali loved seeing the look in her eyes when watching Ali walking around with Sarah, her ex best friend. Everybody knew of their falling out over Ali on the first day of camp.

Ali was brought back to the fight as a paintball came whizzing over her shoulder.

"Come on!" she yelled to Sarah over the mayhem of the battle. They inched their way forward until they were behind the silhouette of Sarah's mentor, Jane. Sarah quickly shot her, and, before she could see who it was, Sarah and Ali ran back into the woods.

They shot anyone over 30 who came close to them, and word got out to stay away from that part of the woods. But Morgan was not afraid. He jogged over to the tree that he could see a bit of Ali's red hair peeking out from. "Ready to admit defeat, Natty?"

Ali snorted. "Yeah right." She set her gun, and fired, hitting Morgan in the leg. He took fire, and Ali was saved only by her quick reflexes of ducking. Sarah aimed at Morgan, and before she could pull the trigger, he hit her in the chest. He then turned to Ali, realizing too late that it was a set up. The paint ball splattered across his clothes, as Ali smiled and watched.

"Nice try Derek. Thanks Sarah!" Sarah smiled back.

"No problem, Ali. I hate this game anyway."

Ali stuck her tongue out at Derek once more before she skipped away cheerfully, while he plotted his revenge.

* * *

In the end, the trainees won, thanks to Ali. She was the very last one left, having finally shot a Special Agent called Annabel Winters. That night, they stayed up late, celebrating Ali's win and dancing around a bonfire.

The Special Agents had to clean up all of the paint from the trees. JJ, Reid, Hotch, Emily, and Morgan all worked together. After working in silence for an hour, Reid wished out loud, "I want to be Rossi right now. What do you think he's doing? Reading?" Reid's voice was wistful.

JJ smiled at her boyfriend. His avoidance of physical activity was very well known in the BAU. But neither of them even suspected what Rossi was actually doing in that moment.

* * *

David Rossi lifted himself onto his elbows while Erin Strauss got dressed. The sheets modestly covered the bottom half of his torso, but she couldn't help but notice the outline of his muscles. _No, no, no! _she mentally lectured herself. She could not be falling for David Rossi again. Not after what happened the last time.

"Erin - " he began, but Strauss started to speak over him.

"Dave, it was a mistake. A stupid mistake. And we can't speak of it again. We should have known better."

Rossi nodded. "A mistake. Right."

But to him, it wasn't. It was his soulmate, his second half, finally reunited with him.


	6. Chapter 6

Ali woke up in the middle of the night to a loud horn. A bullhorn. She knew what this meant, and groaned. She tried to sit up, but, just as she suspected, she was saran wrapped to the bed. One by one, her cabin mates woke up, until they were all sitting there, unable to turn off the bullhorn. Ali did a backwards bridge, which she remembered from some yoga class she took many years ago. It rounded her stomach, and helped her stretch the plastic wrap. Finally, it was loose enough for her to slip her slim body out from it.

She immediately used her ears to locate the bullhorn, and turned off the switch with a grateful sigh. The cabin seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Ali walked over to the bunk above hers, and started to unwrap Sarah. As soon as she was done, they moved onto the other girls, until all of them were free.

"Thanks Ali," Sarah said.

"No problem," Ali said, distracted.

"What's wrong?" Sarah asked, wide awake now.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. I was just thinking of our next prank. But if you guys aren't too tired..." Ali let the thought trail off. They started to clamor up to her for details, but she simply smiled. "Hear that?"

They all strained to hear what Ali was listening to. Then it became obvious. "The crickets?"

"Yes. Find as many crickets as you can. Ooh! And fireflies as well. We only have four more days, so I would like to have this prank ready tomorrow night."

Everyone rushed off to do Ali's bidding. Except one. Blaire Chan was declared "too mature" for such activities, and therefore, due to large doses of sleeping medicine, $300 dollar ear plugs, a face mask, and that her mentor wasn't even at the camp, she had managed to avoid almost all pranks. Except this one. And this had given Blaire a time to act. She knew that, while it would not happen within the next day, it would absolutely happen easily before the end of camp. And that made Blaire very happy.

* * *

The next day passed in a blur for Ali. She was all but a zombie throughout breakfast, stopping long enough only to remember to visit Dr. Kennedy. She walked through the doors, five minutes late as usual, and sat in the chair breezily.

The doctor smiled. "Confident today, Natalie?"

Ali nodded. "You bet!"

"What happened?"

Without skipping a beat, Ali said just as cheerfully, "None of your business!"

"Natalie, I do have the power to declare you mentally incompetent of working for the FBI. Now I ask once more; what happened?"

Knowing she was trapped, Ali replied more calmly, "Pranks."

Dr. Kennedy sighed. "Ok, Natalie. Since we don't like talking, how about we work on other things. Like getting over some of your little problems with people."

Ali stared at her. "I have no problems with people. As in, the human race. I do have issues with a select few, though, and I don't trust easily. There is nothing wrong with that."

"So shake my hand."

Ali looked at her like she was crazy. "I'm sorry; which list do you think you are on? I trust my team. I trust select people from my life outside of work. I don't trust you." She said it simply, not trying to be mean, but just stating a fact.

The doctor would not have been shocked if steam started coming out of her ears due to her annoyance with the girl. "I am not stupid."

"I never said you were. I just don't trust you, and, judging by how you treat me, you don't like or trust me at all in return. So why do we even put up pretenses?"

"Because. That is what humans do. We pretend."

"We pretend what exactly? That everything is all fine and dandy, when really you haven't even scratched the surface of 'what's wrong.' Shit happens, and when you ignore it, it only gets worse. There is no 'better' until you address the problem."

Dr. Kennedy put her head in her arms, trying to get the throbbing in her head to go away. "Leave Natalie. Please, just go."

And, without a word, Ali got up and left.

* * *

Later that day, Ali was smiling once more at the lake, the earlier events forgotten. She had long learned that whatever happened behind closed doors stayed behind closed doors. It was her, Sarah, Rebecca, and several other girls that were part of their group, as well as their respective teams.

Ali found it funny how carefree everyone was away from the stress and danger of their workplace. Morgan had a frisbee, and Ali and JJ kept trying to take it from him. Finally, all three of them fell on the ground and declared a truce. And then Ali had another brilliant idea.

"Em! Hotch! Reid! Rossi! Get your butts over here!"

They all looked up as their respective names were called, and then walked over to Ali. Rossi got there first. "You called, Sparky?"

Ali grimaced as she looked at him. "I thought you were on my side." He laughed, and, after a minute, Ali had to join in.

Reid looked puzzled. "What are we doing over here?"

"We're playing Ultimate Frisbee, Ali version." The whole team groaned. They had experienced Ali's idea of Frisbee before, and were not looking forward to playing again. She took the classic version of Ultimate Frisbee, meaning that you basically had to throw the frisbee to each other and get it through a goal, and Ali-fied it. In regular frisbee, you had to stand still after catching the frisbee. In Ali's version, you had to sprint to get it, because there were no rules against tackling the other team. It had originally been used as a way to get anger out in a "productive" way, but had since turned into Ali's favorite game.

"Boys against girls?" Morgan suggested.

"Sure, but somebody needs to sit out. Remember, four boys against three girls isn't fair," Emily replied, a devious look in her eye.

"No. We need everyone, or the game isn't big enough. Garcia isn't here."

JJ chewed on her lip for a minute, considering the dilemma at hand. But then she realized that Emily was staring at her, and mouthing something. She smiled, and said, "Hey Ali, why don't we just invite someone else to play with us as well? Look, I think that's Emily's mother - I mean, brother - over there."

Emily did a facepalm at JJ's lip reading skills, but Ali seemed to have gotten the message. Turning red, she said, "No, seriously, we can beat the boys like this, can't we?"

Emily smiled. "Nope." Turning around, she said, "Will! Will!" Everyone looked at her like she was insane. She sighed, muttering under her breath, "Fine." Taking a breath, she yelled, "Liam!"

He turned around, and started jogging towards her. "Yeah, Em?"

"Come on. You're playing with us."

"What are we playing?"

She smiled mischievously. "You'll see."

* * *

In the end, the girls won, partially due to Ali's amazing ability at running, and partially to Liam's amazing ability at tackling. At first, Emily and JJ tried to keep up with the two teenagers, but then gave up and sat on the sidelines.

"Why did we think that we needed another person to beat them again?" Emily asked her friend.

"Because we're obviously stupid."

"Look at them. We need to get them together so badly."

JJ sat up. "Emily! That's your brother and Ali."

Emily sat up as well, mirroring JJ. "Yes, I know. They would be so perfect together. They're both the youngest of the team."

"Em, Liam isn't part of the team."

"Actually..." Emily said guiltily.

JJ's eyes got as big as saucers. "No! Emily Katherine Prentiss! Your brother is not part of the team!"

"He got a promotion. Strauss put in a good word for him. He may be transferred to the Pentagon if he accepts. If he does, then I'm going to offer for him to move into the spare apartment over the garage, so we can catch up again. We've grown too far apart."

But JJ had only processed the beginning of her statement. "A promotion to the Pentagon? But he's 23!"

"21. And I know, he's brilliant. Sound like anyone else we know?"

"Oh my God."

"I know."

* * *

That night, Ali snuck out with her cabin mates around one, going under the impression that everyone would be asleep. Always by her side was Liam, flanked by Sarah. Behind them came the rest of the girls holding the jars of crickets and fireflies they had captured the previous night.

When they were outside of the boys cabin, Ali held up one finger, their prearranged signal to wait for Ali and Liam to go in first before waking up the boys with loud noises.

They snuck to the cabin, and opened the door softly on its well oiled hinges. It made no noise, and next to Ali's inaudible footsteps, Liam felt like an oaf. Even his natural athletes grace and talent couldn't help him as his feet hit every squeaky floorboard in the cabin.

Finally, Ali found her target. _The coffee machine._ She quickly located the ground beans, and put her small but extremely potent vial of powder into the powder. Then, just as quickly as she had come in, she walked out. Liam waited in the dark of the cabin, trying to stand still until she was back.

She came back less than a minute later with the girls and their bugs. Quietly, they released the fireflies, allowing the bright flies to light up the room enough to let them see, but not wake up the boys. As soon as they could make out the facial features of the men, the girls went to their respective mentors and proceeded to take any sleep aids that they may have had. The masks (few as they were) came off, and the ear plugs mysteriously fell off. The boys were too far lost into dreamland to notice or care. Finally, Ali collected all of the sleeping pills from the pill cabinet.

When they had gathered up their loot, Ali gave the next signal. She waved her hand, and every girl that still had a jar full of crickets opened the lid. Suddenly crickets were flying everywhere in a last ditch effort to get out of the jar. Ali looked at the cabin, proud of her work.

Finally, came the last signal. In what was a fitting gesture in Ali's opinion, she held up an imaginary bullhorn to her lips. They smoothly started to sing a very loud rendition of Kumbaya. It wasn't very pretty in any way, but it got the job done. Every mentor started to stir. When Ali saw the outline of Morgan (who was always a light sleeper) sit up, she knew they had to run. She turned around, but before she could get too far, something hit her in the back of the head. It let off a foul smell, but she had to keep going. Her lungs filled with oxygen as she got outside, and then as she ran down the path to her cabin.

She was the last one to get there. Everyone else had already changed, and, without even caring about her clothes or the nasty, icky, goopy mess that was her hair, Ali fell onto her bed and went straight to sleep.

**Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait between chapters, but I'm having major writers block as well as being not home for the majority of the summer (camps plus vacations). So sorry!**


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